egg carton -this makes a great stand while you are working on the light bulb

*Snow
For snow I used egg shells. Just hard boil an egg. Remove shell (peel off that thin membrane and discard, it will stick to the glass, not good), and crush into small pieces with a spoon.

Step 2: Preparing light bulb

Show All 8 Items
Warning: taking apart a light bulb can be messy, dangerous, and can even explode, please take care while doing this, use safety glasses and gloves. Light bulb glass breaks quite easily so be careful when dismantling the bulb and when assembling the snow globes.The following instructable gives great instructions on how to hollow out a light bulb if you find mine confusing: How to hollow out a lightbulb*Also the idea of using a sock to protect your hands are from: http://www.instructables.com/id/Light-Bulb-Lamp-Another-Option/Thanks

Using pliers, remove the shiny bit (contact point) on the end of the light bulb.

With a knife or screwdriver break up the brown/black glass.

Cover the bulb with a sock*, hold it in one hand (don't hold from the bottom), with pliers or a screw driver put pressure on the filament inside the bulb to break it up.

Remove broken filament bits still attached to the bulb with pliers.

Work a knife under the edge of the metal base and it should come off fairly easily.

Wash out the inner frosted coating of the light bulb with water, if it doesn't wash out easily try adding some sand or salt and swirl it around.

With steel wool or a kitchen scrubby remove the label on top of the bulb.

Step 3: Snowman -the upright lightbulb

Show All 7 Items
I used a smaller light bulb for this snow globe, the ones used in refrigerators. I was lucky to find a blue led candle at a dollar store, which I thought would look nice in a snowy scene.Prepare the led candle

Remove the flame from the candle, you can use a knife to pry off some of the glue holding it in place.

Prepare bottle cap

Centre bottle cap over led and mark where to make a hole.

Using an awl make a hole in the bottle cap and enlarge with pliers, so that it can fit over the leds on the candle.

Cork and snowman

cut a piece off the end of the cork, just smaller than the height of the bottle cap and make a hole in the centre so it can fit around the leds.

Use waterproof glue to glue the bottle cap to the candle, with the silicone sealant seal the hole around the leds and the bottle cap so that no water can get into the inside of the led candle.

Then glue the cork into the bottle cap. Make sure that the neck of the light bulb still fits into the cap.

Still using the waterproof glue, glue the snowman to the cork, make sure he is not blocking the light from the leds.

Step 4: Snowman -the upright lightbulb continued

Show All 9 Items

Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon egg shells (snow).

Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon glitter.

Add distilled or boiled then cooled water, about 3/4 full.

Add a couple of drops glycerine (I tried adding the glycerine first, but it made the glitter clump together.)

Top up with the water, as full as you can.

Putting it together

Apply silicone sealant to the inside of the cap.

Place cap on light bulb neck and apply sealant to outer rim of bottle cap.

Leave upside down until sealant cures (see instructions on package, mine required 48 hrs.) I suggest waiting longer than the recommended time, to make sure it's fully cured before you turn it right side up.

Step 5: Santa and Reindeer -Lightbulb on side

Show All 7 Items
Adding figurines and snowy ground

Using the silicone sealant (or waterproof glue) attach the reindeer and Santa to the inside of the light bulb on the side.

Spread some of the sealant/glue on the glass around the figurines.

Sprinkle some of the snow on the sealant/glue and press in place, to make the snowy ground around figurines.

Allow the required amount of time to for the sealant/glue to cure before preceding to the next step.

Step 6: Santa and Reindeer -Lightbulb on side continued

After the sealant/glue has cured: (yes, this is the same as step 4, but with different pictures.)

Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon egg shells (snow).

Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon glitter.

Add distilled or boiled then cooled water, about 3/4 full.

Add a couple of drops glycerine (I tried adding the glycerine first but it made the glitter clump together.)

Top up with the water, as full as you can.

Putting it together

Apply silicone sealant to the inside of the cap.

Place cap on light bulb and apply sealant to outer edge of bottle cap.

Leave upside down until sealant cures (see instructions on package, mine required 48 hrs.) I suggest waiting longer than the recommended time, to make sure it's fully cured before you turn it right side up.

Step 7: Little angel snow globe

Show All 8 Items
I won't go into detail about how I took apart this microscope bulb, since it came from a really old (1970's) Zeiss microscope, I'm sure not a lot of people have a bulb like this. But if you have a smaller size light bulb that you want to use, I'll show you how I made the angel snow globe.

Make sure your little figurine can fit through the neck (mine barely fit, it nearly broke off the angel wing trying to get it in).

Cut a piece of cork to glue onto the bottom of the angel. This is so that it can stand high enough in the light bulb that all of it can be seen. I made sure that it did not fit too snugly, so that I could still add water when the angel was in place.

Add about a teaspoon of glitter (I did not use eggshells for this globe).

Add a few drops of glycerine.

Glue angel with cork in place using the silicone sealant, making sure there is room to add water. Alternatively you can add the water first then glue angel in place. Wait several days to allow the sealant to cure before you add water (see instructions of package, mine needed 48hrs) (I glued the angel first, because it was hard to get her in, and I would have spilled the water and glitter everywhere if I had added the water first)

Use distilled water or boiled and cooled water and fill globe as high as you can.

Wipe off any excess water, seal the hole with the sealant.

Add sealant to the inside of the metal base of the bulb and fit over the neck of the light bulb.

Add sealant around the outside rim of the metal base where it contacts the glass.

Let sit upside down for several days, for the sealant to cure, I suggest waiting longer than the recommended time, to make sure it's fully cured before you turn it over.

Step 8: A few notes

I had several failed attempts with this light bulb snow globe project. Mostly involving the glue. My first attempt was using a hot glue gun to attach the figurines and then seal the caps on the light bulb. I thought it worked, until I found Santa floating belly up a few days later. -I have a low temperature glue gun, which may be the problem, also I don't think it glues well to smooth surfaces like glass.-After the failure with the glue gun, I tried some silicone sealant, it works great for sealing the caps onto the light bulb, just make sure you leave enough time for it to cure.-I also tried a "waterproof glue" I found in a department store, for attaching the figurines to the glass and cork. It works well (no floaters). A marine glue would probably do the job too. Dismantling light bulbIdeally, I wanted to use the base of the light bulb instead of the bottle caps, so that there was no doubt that the snow globes were made from light bulbs. Unfortunatly, I did not get a clean break when I took the light bulbs apart, so the neck would have gaps when I tried to put it back on the metal base. I know it can be done, the light bulb you see in step 2 worked nicely but then I had troubles with the glue (see previous note). I hope you have better luck than me.GlycerineI added the glycerine to the water so that the snow would fall more slowly. Another option could be to use mineral oil instead, but I wasn't sure if it would effect the glue.